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Minor brake issues on Midlife

"Midlife" said:
Caster 2-3, toe 1/8-1/4, and camber 1.5 (I can't remember and I'm on the road). We replaced a driver's side UCA, and rechecked alignment, and it was still good (but didn't check toe). The pull is slight, and feels more like the road crown than anything else. When i get back home, I'll try and find a better road and recheck the pull.
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Got home, and here are the specs: Toe: 1/8" in, Caster 3* positive, and 1/4* negative camber. No details for each side.

Still looking for a definition of cross-caster.
 
"Midlife" said:
"Midlife" said:
Caster 2-3, toe 1/8-1/4, and camber 1.5 (I can't remember and I'm on the road). We replaced a driver's side UCA, and rechecked alignment, and it was still good (but didn't check toe). The pull is slight, and feels more like the road crown than anything else. When i get back home, I'll try and find a better road and recheck the pull.
Click to expand...

Got home, and here are the specs: Toe: 1/8" in, Caster 3* positive, and 1/4* negative camber. No details for each side.

Still looking for a definition of cross-caster.
Click to expand...

Cross caster is the difference from side to side. say your left side is +3.2 and right is 2.8+ your cross caster is .4+

Your left wheel is actually leading the right by .4 degrees. .5 degrees is the most any reputable alignment guy will allow
regardless of what the spec is.

Using the above numbers 3.2+ left and 2.8+ right, the car will have a tendency to want to go right. This is because your wheel
base is actually shorter on the right side. This setup would probably pull pretty hard anywhere where roads are crowned.

The most cross caster I allow is .3 right leading left (right more +) to correct for crown yet not be far enough ahead to cause a pull.

That's the short answer. Want the long one?
 
That's sort of what I expected: you want the caster to be smaller (if there is to be a difference) on the left side to compensate for the crown of the road. I can understand that, and why measuring each wheel is so crucial.

Now that I have my own measuring tools, I'll drag AZPete over here again, and re-measure, and perhaps add or subtract a shim or two. But first, I'll try the car on a different road that may not have so prominent a crown.

As an aside, in 8 years of reading every post on TOF (That Other Forum), this is the first time I have heard of cross-camber and what advantages or disadvantages it can create. Thank you, kind Sir!
 
I took my '06 Mustang along the same stretch of roadway that I saw a fair amount of veering to the right without braking. The newer 'Stang definitely had a crown issue. We have sand as a base under the asphalt, and most of our roads have two ruts and three crowns. With the newer car, the car would veer left or right easily once one got out of the ruts. Therefore, I conclude that I do not have a major problem, but will continue to find a better road for testing, if I can find true concrete anywhere...
 
You may actually have to drive that car more than 45 mins. lol I suggest trying to check it on one of the longer bridges around here. Much better surface.

Let me know when and I will bring the big hammers. We WILL get it adjusted.......
 
Yes, Thor. I'm thinking of taking the week off either prior to or after Labor Day, so let's plan on getting sloshed after a bit of Olympic Hammer Tossing...
 
Could be a plan in progress. I will check my calender....oh.....wait.....I have no calender.....let me know.
 
AZPete came over and lent his pair of eyes. Nothing stood out at first, but we noticed the emergency brake cables weren't centered (66 has one long loop). When I sandblasted everything, the sand got into the centering device, so we cleaned that all up and rehooked everything back up. Nope...still pulling to the left under panic stops, but now we have a strong clunking noise up front. We bled the brakes, and pulled the right rear apart, thinking it wasn't working correctly. We found the clip that catches the adjuster wheel slightly off, so bent that up so it worked better, reset the adjuster to be loose, and let the car set the adjustments. Did a few panic stops, backing up, etc., and found no real change. Our last thought is that the right rear still needs to self-adjust a bit to match the left.

The clunking noise appears to be the front strut rods, but examination of them showed nothing out of the ordinary.

We drank some good beers, and forgot about my problems...
 
So that you don't overlook the obvious....

Do you have the brake shoes positioned properly? Front shoe on the front/rear shoe on the rear? They'll physically bolt on either way, but it'll make a BIG difference.....
 
"daveSanborn" said:
So that you don't overlook the obvious....

Do you have the brake shoes positioned properly? Front shoe on the front/rear shoe on the rear? They'll physically bolt on either way, but it'll make a BIG difference.....
Click to expand...

OMG! You mean that there's a front and back shoe? Nooooo! Next you're gonna tell me that there's a right one and a left one!

We determined at first that the rear shoe on the right side was not moving, and that activates the adjusting wheel. We took it apart, put it back together, and it then worked correctly. That's when we noticed that the level just didn't quite engage the star wheel, so we bent the lever to make it work. Rather than manually adjusting the drums, we loosened them both up, and allowed the car to adjust the brakes themselves. Pete thinks that a few more hard stops will get both in alignment...it's a bit better than before.

The front clunking noise is very bothersome, and that distracted our attention until the adult beverages came into play. We both do not see anything unusual about the front suspension or strut rods (my higher suspicion), although the bushings for the strut rods do not look as compressed as they might. Torque values are correct. Pete seems to think they may not be rubber, but something less compressible. They came with the car when I bought it. We pondered replacing them, but removing a strut rod while the car is on the lift is not a happy vision...

Both the brake and clunking problem only occur during a very hard panic stop, locking up a rear wheel, or going in reverse to adjust the brakes. This is not an everyday event, as even moderate braking is normal and not out of the ordinary. I'm almost willing to live with the condition, knowing that in a true panic stop, I'll always have a hand on the steering wheel to correct the slight drift to the left. And I'll never be driving on icy roads...
 
Does the pull cause the steering wheel to tug at your hand?

The clunk in the front and the pull would lead me to look at the front brakes.

Particularly something in the left front.
 
"Sluggo" said:
Does the pull cause the steering wheel to tug at your hand?

The clunk in the front and the pull would lead me to look at the front brakes.

Particularly something in the left front.
Click to expand...
No; the driver's side rear locks up well before the passenger rear, causing the swerve.

We tried duplicating the clunk by pushing the car back and forth onto chocks, jumping on the bumper, all to no avail. I wonder if the spring perches are binding, or if the spring itself is not set correctly into the tower (it appears to be so, though). The clunk happened once while turning out of the driveway w/o braking, and once again when engaging the clutch/accelerator pedal after a panic stop. It seems to be due to suspension settling of some sort or another. We did replace a UCA a couple of months ago...
 
Latest update:
I took Mid to a local Mom/Pop one-man business, who's been doing suspension and alignment work since 1981. He looked at everything, and found a few discrepancies: UCA ball joint needing grease, a shock not properly installed (bushing over washer instead of washer over bushing), tie rod connecting parts that were slightly in bind, and tightened every nut/bolt that could possibly make the noise, and it still didn't go away. Our suspicion is now upon body flexing, possibly at the export brace area. He gave me some tips on how to better home in on the problem, but it will require two people as one needs to drive the car. So...I'll have to persuade AZPete again (there goes my beer budget!) to help out. He did convince me that the problem is not serious and if he doesn't have a clue, then it can't be that bad.

Meanwhile, my rear u-joint is leaking again. Grrrrrrr...
 
I'll have to persuade AZPete again (there goes my beer budget!) to help out.
Click to expand...

So does AZPete get to help remove the hood and then lay across the export brace listening for strange noises while you tool around the panhandle?

Get pictures.... or better yet a video..... this could be funny stuff! If while videoing, nothing really funny is happening, zoom in on Pete's face as you hit the brakes a little harder than he's been expecting. This will undoubtedly be funny stuff!

Meanwhile, my rear u-joint is leaking again.
Click to expand...

The U-joint? Or the Pinion seal? I can't remember the last time I had a u-joint leak on me.....
 
Yes, it is the u-joint and not the pinion. It's leaking out of the dust sleeve between the cap and the shaft that the cap sits on. I replaced the u-joint once, and Pete and I found that the dust boot was slightly askew. We put it back right, and it was fine for a couple of months, but is acting up again.

Very strange that two separate u-joints are doing the same thing. I'll check the pinion once again to be sure, though.
 
The only thing in common may be the "nut" behind the wheel, who installs the u-joints....
 
Sounds like we may have to hit the cold ones early for this project. I may start the night before......or now. Hmmmmm
 
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